Gavin Giovannoni, David Baker, Klaus Schmierer The problem with repurposing: Is there really an alternative to Big Pharma for developing new drugs for multiple sclerosis? Mult Scler Rel Disorder epub DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2014.11.005

If it is not feasible to develop licensed drugs to the stage that they can actually be prescribed for a new indication, can we justify, either ethically or economically, the undertaking of proof-of-concept studies using off-patent medications? Without a financial incentive it is very difficult to repurpose off patent drugs for a new indication. Therefore, we need a political solution to allow the repurposing of off-patent drugs by other stakeholders or Big Pharma.

We don't need to rehearse this argument, as ProfG has previously spoken on this. It appears that academics are pretty useless at developing drug without pharma holding their hands. There is a push to develop new treatments for progressive MS and repair. But hopefully, this will be a dilemma that ProfG has in the very near